Antiques Roadshow: Guest has 'personal' family painting valued
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
An Antiques Roadshow guest presented Geoffrey Munn with a pristine necklace which was created by Russia’s most famous jeweller Faberge during a classic instalment of the BBC One show. The jewellery specialist was mesmerised by the sky blue enamelled Easter eggs which were surmounted by tiny diamond laurels. His guest was left gobsmacked when he told her how much he thought the fantastic find was worth.
The necklace came inside a box where where ‘K. Fabergé, Moscow’ was written in Cyrillic on the inside.
Geoffrey described the box the necklace was placed in as “beautiful” and discussed the three blue eggs inside.
The guest explained: “Well they are my friend’s whose aunt gave them to her.
“She believes they are Russian but that’s all she knows about them.”
He replied: “Well, I think she probably guessed they were Russian from the lid satin and it is clearly legible to enthusiasts of this subject that it actually says the name of an important Russian jeweller.
“But I just want to discuss this item in a sort of back to front way and tell you about the eggs which are sky blue with tiny diamond laurels.
“That’s quite important in a way because in the tradition of jewellery the colour blue is for love and it’s something borrowed and something blue and we have is conspicuously written.
“Above it, we also see tiny laurels with diamonds and this is a visual rebirth of a Latin phrase which means, ‘The triumph of love over all.'”
He added: “There’s also another message coming across here because they are Easter eggs and this is a gift from somebody at Easter in holy Russia to present to someone they love.”
The expert explained the necklace was made by Faberge which was indeed the “most famous goldsmith workshop that’s ever existed”.
“In 1917 a catastrophe happened because the Russian revolution came about and Faberge’s empire was utterly destroyed completely and forever and so when we see these things coming through the excitement mound enormously,” he added.
“Your friend has kept it in perfect condition and it’s kept within this box which signs it like a picture frame.”
After evaluating the precious item further, he told the guest the necklace was worth an estimated £12,000.
She replied: “Oh my goodness, she’ll be thrilled to pieces.
“Quite recently she had quite a big fire at her house and she lost quite a lot of things, but this was one thing that survived.”
Geoffrey replied: “Well that’s wonderful, and it may be some small compensation. But it was so exciting to see it here today.
“I’m exhausted, I don’t know about you, but it’s wonderful, absolutely wonderful.”
The value of Faberge is not just due to the precious stones used to decorate them.
They have become such a symbol of luxury that in 2007 a Faberge egg made for the Rothschild banking family in 1902 sold for a world record of £8.9 million.
Antiques Roadshow episodes are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Source: Read Full Article
